January 21, 2011 Memorial of Saint Agnes, virgin and martyr

Reading 1
Heb 8:6-13
Brothers and sisters:
Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry
as he is mediator of a better covenant,
enacted on better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless,
no place would have been sought for a second one.
But he finds fault with them and says:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of
Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand to lead
them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant
and I ignored them, says the Lord.
But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying,
“Know the Lord,”
for all shall know me, from least to greatest.
For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more.
When he speaks of a “new” covenant,
he declares the first one obsolete.
And what has become obsolete
and has grown old is close to disappearing.

Ps 85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14

Responsorial Psalm

R. (11a) Kindness and truth shall meet.
Show us, O LORD, your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.

Mk 3:13-19

Gospel

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted
and they came to him.
He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,
that they might be with him
and he might send them forth to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons:
He appointed the Twelve:
Simon, whom he named Peter;
James, son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges,
that is, sons of thunder;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus;
Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,
and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

REFLECTION

The very first preaching that Jesus did was not done in words. It was done in action.He gathered his twelve apostles. He formed them into a community. He is telling us that in order to go to heaven we need our brothers and sisters. We need to learn to live as a community just as God, the Trinity,was a community of love and unity. If we look at the background of each apostles we will discover that most of them were illiterate, most of them were publicans, that is, public sinners. Why did Jesus not include the Pharisees and Scribes who were the most religious people during that time? Why were they not chosen as apostles?  Because he wanted to show that Christianity is for the sinners, not the self righteous. Christianity is for the weak. It does not depend on our strength but on the strength of God who loves us in Jesus. They were able to cure, to drive out demons not by their own powers but by the power of God. It is God who moves in Christianity. We simply follow.